Ralph Wilson dead at 95

[RedOctober3829]

https://twitter.com/RavensInsider/status/448541573249134592
 

 

[Kliq]

I read Michael McCambridge's excellent history of the NFL, "America's Game" and I never knew how important the original owners of the AFL franchises were. Sad to hear that I believe the last living one passed away, but a great life nonetheless.

 

[Dogman]

TO MY DEATH POOL

 

[quint]

 
Without Ralph Wilson around, how much longer will there even be a Buffalo Bills franchise?

Probably until we are all old and grey. This is almost exactly what the franchise needed.

 

[bankshot1]

 
Without Ralph Wilson around, how much longer will there even be a Buffalo Bills franchise?

Just so long as the Bills stay in the AFC East.
 
Is it assumed estate taxes trigger a sale, or that there are greener less frozen fields for the Bills to romp on?

 

[dcmissle]

Decent estate planning undertaken suffiently in advance can successfully address estate taxes and keep the team in family. Something Redskins fans have been pissed about for 15 years.

 

[mpx42]

The rest of the Wilson family never made any sort of effort to undergo that kind of estate planning, since they have no interest in keeping the team. So yeah, it's getting sold.

 

[quint]

The rest of the Wilson family never made any sort of effort to undergo that kind of estate planning, since they have no interest in keeping the team. So yeah, it's getting sold.

Umm, whuuuuu? If you will, can you elaborate? Owning an NFL franchise, even for the inept, is akin to having a license to print money. I'm legitimately curious as why the family wants to sell.

 

[darnedsox]

Rumors have been flying about Jon Bon Jovi and the Bills for a long while.

 

[quint]

According to Forbes' 2012 report, the Bills' franchise value in 2012 was $870 million. The operating income that year? $12.6 million. Once you factor in G&A expenses, I doubt there's much left for distributions on a year-to-year basis. I'm guessing the family wants to cash out since the majority of the money is tied up in the franchise. Teams like the Cowboys, Patriots, Redskins, etc. had operating incomes north of $100 million so they're likely getting steady cash AND watching their investment appreciate in value.

You're leaving several important variables out. I'm not implying the Wilson family isn't looking to cash out, I'm just looking for a rational reason as to why.

I suppose sell high is one, but now? During the current TV contract?

I don't see it.

 

[mpx42]

I don't know why they want to cash out, just that's it very well known (and Wilson's heirs have stated publicly) that they have no interest in becoming NFL owners. Ralph Wilson arranged it so the Bills do not go to his wife or his kids, they go into a trust operated by the same management team, who eventually are required to take the best offer they can get for the franchise.
 
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/what8217s-next-for-the-bills-for-now-the-team-will-be-controlled-by-a-trust-20140325
 
And this:
 
http://buffalonews.typepad.com/inside_the_news/2007/11/a-pleas-for-ral.html
 
They may just want the lump sum payment - even as one of the least valuable NFL franchises I assume the Bills should still command over a billion dollars.

 

[leetinsley38]

Rumors have been flying about Jon Bon Jovi and the Bills for a long while.

Yup.  And did you know that Bon Jovi and Bill Belichick are best friends?  To your phone calls right after this short break.

 

[Dehere]

You're leaving several important variables out. I'm not implying the Wilson family isn't looking to cash out, I'm just looking for a rational reason as to why.

I suppose sell high is one, but now? During the current TV contract?

I don't see it.

What if the current player safety issues are just the beginning of a long term decline in the popularity of football? What if cable cord-cutting becomes prevalent enough to undermine the value of future TV contracts? What if macro events that have nothing to do with football send the US economy into another recession or indefinite stagnation?

I don't think any of these things are likely to happen but the chance to accept a billion dollars to not deal with any of these risks is compelling.

I love the NFL, but if I had a choice between a billion dollars cash or full ownership of an NFL franchise right now, boy, I don't know. I'd probably take the money.

 

[bakahump]

I thought it was basically a fait accompli that the Bills would go to Toronto?
 
Still "close enough" to Buffalo to sell some tickets as the Regional team.....but in a major enough metro area to compete.

 

[JimD]

Can anyone give a good reason as to why the Bills should remain in Buffalo?

 
The same reason that the Packers should remain in Green Bay, I suppose, if we put aside the obvious fact that the Packers are owned by the community and not going anywhere.  No one can accuse Bills fans of not supporting their team in good times and (mostly) bad.

 

[bankshot1]

I just took a quick look at NFL attendance over the past 5 years, and the Bills averaged about 64,000 per game in that period, and are ranked about 19-22 (7th in 2009) of the 32 NFL teams, I think we've done this exercise before of trying to find the next great NFL/(or MLB city). I'm not sure its there. I thought the Canadian gov't has basically given the CFL protection against an NFL invasion.
 
There may be good reasons to sell the Bills, but I'm not sure there is a good reason to move them. . 

 

[JimD]

The Bills and the NFL will leverage the current situation to try and get the state of New York and Erie County to pay for a new stadium in Buffalo proper.  I can see the team moving only after that situation is played out.

 

[NortheasternPJ]

I thought it was basically a fait accompli that the Bills would go to Toronto?
 
Still "close enough" to Buffalo to sell some tickets as the Regional team.....but in a major enough metro area to compete.

Compete? This is the team that won the Mario Williams free agency right?

 

[DJnVa]

Bills cannot move, even to Toronto, before 2020.
 
http://blogs.canoe.ca/krykslants/nfl/bills-cannot-be-relocated-before-2020-the-long-reported-400m-buyout-option-does-not-exist/

“I’m very familiar with the Bills’ new lease in Buffalo, and Ralph Wilson gave the people of Buffalo and Western New York an enormous gift,” Ganis said at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes.
 
“In this new 10-year lease that he signed, for the first seven years there is no opportunity to buy that lease out, or terminate it. None. That team is required to stay in that stadium for at least for the first seven years, and one year already has passed in that lease, so for the next six years.”
 

 

[axx]

Another article about the possibilities of buying the Bills, including the Jacobs family and Donald Trump:
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/jacobs-family-reportedly-leads-list-of-bills-suitors-with-local-ties-20140406
 
That lease is going to make things tough though. I have to imagine whoever buys it is really going to want to move the Bills.

 

[Rough Carrigan]

Another article about the possibilities of buying the Bills, including the Jacobs family and Donald Trump:
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/jacobs-family-reportedly-leads-list-of-bills-suitors-with-local-ties-20140406
 
That lease is going to make things tough though. I have to imagine whoever buys it is really going to want to move the Bills.

Don't worry Bills fans.  If Jeremy Jacobs takes over you'll only have to endure 39 more title free years.